Adeptus Titanicus at Prairiecon 2019

Loyalist Titans stalk the land at Prairiecon XL in Brandon, MB.

Did another Prairiecon just happen...? Why...yes, yes it did! It is indeed that time of year again, when a number of Conscripts travel to the lovely city of Brandon, Manitoba, to participate Prairiecon - Prairiecon XL, in fact! 40 years! That's just tremendous, what a fun tradition to take part in!

For 2019 there were a number of Conscript-involved games at the three-day event, and I'll share some photos of one of them in this post - a game of "Adeptus Titanicus", the re-boot version GW released last year.

View of the table, the opposing Titan battlegroups all lined up...

The scenario was a very basic clash, intended to show off a few models and the rules.  The fight involved an isolated station where the Warmaster, Horus Lupercal, kept a "summer home".  A loyalist battlegroup from Legio Gyphonicus wanted to secure this location so valuable intelligence could be gathered.  The rebel forces, comprised of a Legio Mortis battlegroup, were determined to stop them - after all, who wanted to be the one to explain to Horus that loyalists had captured his summer house???

A close-up of the objective...Horus Lupercal's "summer home".

As a wrinkle, the players were not allowed to deliberately fire on or destroy the buildings (again, the loyalists wanted to preserve the possible intelligence finds, while the rebels feared the consequences of Horus finding out any of his stuff was wrecked because their efforts were lacking...). Two buildings in the centre of the table were found to have strange, dark-age-of-technology shielding that blocked all fire - even indirect shots that would go above them - and so the opposing Titan commanders would have to maneuver with these restrictions in mind.

Warlord Titans anchor the loyalist battle line...Curt's awesome Lucius-Pattern model in the foreground.

The opposing battlegroups were identical and balanced, intended to give a general flavour of the game - two Warlords, one Reaver, one Warhound, and a full-strength banner of Knights on each side. Curt was kind enough to travel to Brandon for a visit and bring some of his amazing Adeptus Titanicus kit with him, including his awesome third-party Lucius Pattern Warlord, which looked amazing on the table.

The Legio Mortis engines move toward the centre of the table...

Reactors were powered, orders issued and battle joined! Over a few turns, the rebel side had the low-end of the luck with the dice...in particular, one of their Warlords had its shields blown out on the first turn, followed quickly with a number of serious blasts from opposing Volcano Cannons, blowing off arms, punching holes in the body and in the head. Yikes!

Heavy fighting in the centre of the table, Knight banners on both sides going head-to-head

Another view of the clash among the Knights.

As the fighting continued, the rebel Warhound was destroyed, its weapons blasting away randomly before it went critical and exploded.  The opposing Knight banners traded blows, with the loyalist side bearing the brunt of the losses in that confrontation...but overall, the Loyalists had the edge by the time we called the game - although one of the loyalist Warlords was nearing critical status on its reactor after heavy use of the volcano cannons - that might have been interesting if we played one more turn...

"What happened to my arms???" Things got rough for this Legio Mortis Warlord after its shields blew out...

What treats, we wonder, would the loyalists find in Horus' summer home? Might have to play a "Part 2" for this game sometime, maybe an Epic 30k game? We'll see!

Congratulations to Prairiecon for 40 years! That's quite an achievement.  Hopefully Dallas and Mike will post some more photos from their games over the weekend as well.  Thanks to everyone who attended, and to Dallas, Mike and Curt for making another trip to Brandon for some great gaming. It's a great tradition, and I wish the Prairiecon folks all the best for the next 40 years! 

More Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

A "banner" of rebel Knights prepares to depart the staging grounds of my kitchen and fight for Horus and the Warmaster!

The blogging pace has slowed as summer approaches in Canada. But I haven't stopped painting - honest! Work has been very busy (this is a good thing) and then there has even been a bit of nice weather here and there, so I haven't been painting as much, but I've still been painting.

Fusion cannon - very nasty at short range!

After a steady run of historical subjects on my painting table, I've turned my brushes once again to the grim darkness of the far future.  While GW hasn't exactly been killing it with support for their new game, I still have models in the "pending pile" I should take care of. Here are three more Knights for GW's re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus", the game featuring the clash of massive, city-crushing war machines during the (even) dark(er) days of the Horus Heresy.

The detail on these new plastic Knights is incredible - very clever little kits.

I find the story of the Knight Houses in 30k/40k to be utterly barmy - who cares about House Puffin-Humper (likely not an actual Knight Household, but that is what they all seem like to me). But the Knight models themselves are really nicely done, and the "Adeptus Titanicus" rules reflect their role in the Titan-filled battlefields of the grimdark future very well.  In the 30k/40k universe Knights are large war machines - much larger than you or me, than even Space Marines, their dreadnoughts or their heaviest super-heavy tanks.  But they are still the small fry when put in the context of the city-crushing Titans. With this in mind, the role of the Knights in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game emphasizes careful movement and harassing fire.

A view of some of the great detail on the rear of the Knights.

As the small fish in the big pond, the Knights are pretty vulnerable to the heavy weapons of the Titans. Their defence relies on speed and mobility, and the group application of their Ion shields.  The larger the "banner" of Knights, the better the shield protection they have. The basic "banner" size, of three Knights, doesn't leave much margin of error when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives.  By increasing the "banner" to a maximum size of six machines, the Knights' ability to survive increases materially. As a group the Knights can pose a serious threat to the big Titans, getting close, inside the void shields, and delivering heavy damage. The Princeps of the Titans ignore enemy Knights at their peril, and will rely on friendly Knights to keep them in the clear, so they can focus on the enemy's larger war engines.

The gatling cannon of the Knights is not super-useful in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game, but if nothing else, this fellow can serve as ablative armour when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives...

I have two "banners" of three Knights painted previously - one each for the loyalists and rebels.  I want to expand those to full six-Knight banners.  It will come as no surprise to anyone that the rebel side gets the first set of reinforcements...Horus for Hope! These three will join my growing rebel forces.

So things are slowing down, yes, but stay tuned for more painting and gaming as the summer approaches. Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Great War Figures from Mutton Chop and Foundry!

A recent Great War game set in 1914 triggered me to dig out and paint some figures I'd had in the pipeline for some time. First up was this lot of early-war German command figures sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks for the Mutton Chop Miniatures imprint.

As anyone who's familiar with Paul's work well knows, his models are full of character and are anatomically and historically accurate to boot! Above we have an officer with Fahnentraeger and musician, from the regimental HQ.

Above, a couple of NCOs bellowing orders and a sabre-waving officer. I like how the German officers in this period carried packs and wore helmets just like the men under their command.

Rear view of the group.

Another view of that wonderful regimental standard. Thanks to Conscript Greg for coming through with that for me at short notice!

Paul also sculpted lots of nice early-war British for the Mutton Chop range. Pictured above are two Majors with a couple of guys who do the real heavy lifting - their Sergeants.

I used Citadel paints on these - uniforms are Mournfang Brown with Doombull Brown used for the leather gear, and Zandri Dust for the webbing, all washed with Agrax Earthshade of course.

Now onto a whole pile of models that had been hanging about the painting desk for ages - a small platoon of Foundry Highlanders.

Of course, the beauty of these models is that they can stand in for late-war gaming in a pinch, as well as serving in 1914-15. Of course in 1916 and later they should be wearing shrapnel helmets, but I like to imagine that Scottish bloody-mindedness might prevail and cause them to retain their Glengarries even at that time. I have a few command figures from Great War Miniatures on the way to make up the platoon HQ (or company HQ in a Warhammer: Great War game).

Paint is very similar to the Mutton Chop lads, but substituting Skrag Brown as the main uniform colour just for variety. The P08 webbing is Zandri Dust, with the kilt cover and spats being done in Zamesi Desert.

So there you have 'em - another long-outstanding project cleared off the desk and way made for something else. I think next up will probably be getting a couple more motorbikes painted for the Gaslands game at Prairiecon coming up in about three weeks' time - unless the Highlander command models get here first of course!

10mm FPW Again...This Time, French Hussars

10mm French Hussars for the Franco-Prussian War - figures from Pendraken.

More "small" progress from the painting table, a continued theme from recent posts - 10mm Franco-Prussian War figures.  These are French Hussars from the Franco-Prussian War, and as before, these are castings from Pendraken - and they are amazing quality sculpts and castings.

Lots of character and detail on these little fellows - fun to paint!

There are a number of different gaming options out there for this period, but consistent with my recent 10mm output for the period, these are intended for use with Bruce Weigle's "1871" rules. Each base would represent two squadrons of cavalry, so the two bases together would represent a French cavalry regiment in the game.

A charge in line...

These little fellows are wearing the light blue coats, kepis and red pants of the newer Hussar uniform that was still in the process of being issued in 1870.  Even though they are small little guys, the level of detail on the sculpts is incredible, and I love how Pendraken have given them an animated, dramatic look - charging forward, sabres drawn, for the glory of the French Empire (and, later, the French Republic).

Another view of the detail...

If you are curious about 10mm, you should give Pendraken a try...I'm blown away by the quality.

Together with the Chasseurs and Dragoons, I have close to a division's worth of French cavalry ready for a game of "1871".  But there is always more to do...I still need to get many more Prussians, and some Bavarians, painted up before we try these rules.  Summer is approaching (on the calendar, if not in the climate), so hopefully my summer painting will bring some more progress to share on more of these little fellows.

French mobilization continues in 10mm...

Thanks for visiting the Blog, have a great day!

A Few More 10mm FPW French Fellows

10mm Franco-Prussian War castings from Pendraken.

Not too much painting happening these days, but I'm chipping away here and there at a "small" project - 10mm Franco-Prussian War.  These are castings from Pendraken, and they are really quite amazing - very small, of course, but sculpted in cunning fashion so as to give you little bits of detail here and there to jump on to.

While these figures might ultimately accommodate a number of different rules, I am aiming to use them for Bruce Weigle's "1871" grand tactical rules.  In this case, each base of infantry would represent one battalion, and each base of cavalry would represent two squadrons/half regiment of horsemen.  So the three bases of infantry would represent an infantry regiment, and the two bases of horse would represent a cavalry regiment, etc. By using this sort of scale, it will be possible to play some of the large battles from the Franco-Prussian war - or at least, large parts of them.

The Pendraken figures have cast flags on them...I thought this was a terrible idea - and to Pendraken's credit, you can order separate flag bearers with empty poles and then use paper flags - but the scale is small, and as flags go, the French one is pretty straightforward...my free-hand is nothing to write home about, but I'm starting to like the look of the painted flags in the small scale.

So there are three bases of French line infantry:

In any scale, those Second Empire french uniforms are just lovely.

Ready for a charge after softening up the Prussians with Chassepot fire...

Incredible detail for 10mm castings!

And two bases of Chasseurs a Cheval:

Charge!

Love the animation in these little sculpts!

Again, amazing details for 10mm castings.

Still not enough 10mm chaps painted for a game as yet, but getting there slowly-but-surely. Watch this space for more progress (I hope!). Thanks for visiting, and have a great day. 

So How's GW Doing With Adeptus Titianicus?

Photo visualization of GW's rollout plan to support the new Adeptus Titanicus.

So, I've been painting quite a lot of 19th century/Franco-Prussian War stuff for a while - and loving it - but it's fun to take a break.  I thought it might be fun to look again at my Adeptus Titanicus collection, and work on some improvements...that would start with some new weapons for the Titans, or maybe a couple of the new Cerastus Knights...this pointless rant is the product instead...

Many fans of the Horus Heresy, 30k and Epic were very excited to see Games Worksop's re-launch of Adeptus Titanicus last year.  Certainly I was. Anxious, yes. But on the whole, good stuff.  The new models are really striking, great kits.  The rules are excellent, a reminder that GW can really put excellent rules out there.  The game looks cool, and is great fun.

But there was also a lot of trepidation for many fans - there certainly was for me. The new scale, the eye-watering prices, all limiting the audience of the game.  And GW itself seemed to be half-assing it when it came to getting the game out there in the first place. The combo of models and weapons in the original box was a let-down (only one weapon load-out for the Warlords, etc). The game itself seemed to take forever to get to market. GW only seemed to be releasing this game because some unseen power was forcing them too, and doing the bare minimum needed to support it.

But hey, once it got out there, if would be out there!GW would surely get behind the game, muster its formidable marketing and product release engine, and get things moving, right? Right?

Let's see how that has been going...

Late last year, there was the fiasco where they tried to force you to purchase an entirely new Warlord Titan just to get some of the new weapons for the Warlord Titan kits.  This episode inspired one of their most tone-deaf responses to fan furor I have seen from them - and with GW's standards in this regard, that is saying something.

Wow - that spin will make you dizzy...

But hey, give them some credit, right? They did listen (after getting ventilated online, but still), and pledge to make the new weapon sprues available separately.  It did happen - a month or more later than promised - but it did happen, so you wouldn't have to purchase an entirely new Warlord Titan just to get a broader weapon load-out for the new models in your collection.  Great, right? Except...

If only I could some new weapons for my Warlord Titans...

Hope you got em' while you could!

Hey - maybe I can try those new Cerastus Knights while I'm waiting for new weapons for my Titans? That seems like fun! I just need those command terminals to run them in the game...oh...too bad this has been the case for two months or so now:

Only the temporary lasts...

Well, at least Forge World is releasing more weapons! That has to be good news, right? I mean, the exchange rate conversions are pirate-level, and I dislike working with resin, and the quality control at Forge World is bonky at times, but they are nice guys and will certainly stock the new weapons for my Warlord Titans, right?  I can't wait to work on these while the other stuff gets stocked up...

Oh rats...maybe I can get that other one...?

Nope...

For f*ck sakes, GW - are you guys serious about this or not?

It's not like there are no models out there or anything. The original Warlord (and the "new" one) are out there, so are the Reavers and Warhounds. And you can fill you boots with terrain (at least for now).  But the funny word "Titanicus" is in the title of the game for a reason - the game is built around the Titans.  Nobody is running around wishing they would release Adeptus Terrainicus. The different weapon load-outs of the Titans are an integral part of the enjoyment of the game.  Somehow it's been almost a year and you still can't get a full suite of weapons yet...I'll paint the buildings and stuff at some point, but I want to work on the Titans...stop trying to make me buy more super-expensive Titan models just to get more weapons. 

I'm sure there are a lot of good people trying to do the best they can. It's just a hobby. These are first-world problems. And in business, stuff happens, right? But maybe you could divert 5% of the energy used to issue new deamonic whackadoodle stuff and actually get your act together on Adeptus Titanicus?

And so, back to the 19th Century for now!

Franco-Prussian War - 10mm Turcos & Friends

10mm Franco-Prussian War castings from Pendraken.

The blogging pace has slowed in the past few weeks - work has been rather busy, and abysmal "spring" weather has finally relented somewhat, allowing glimpses of a bright, glowing orb in the sky that appears to generate sufficient heat even to melt snow! I have been trying to get outside to maximize my enjoyment of this wondrous development...

But I have still been painting a bit. The period and setting will be a familiar one - the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, but I have switched scales for a bit, adding a few more 10mm figures. These castings are all from Pendraken. They add to some "test" figures I painted last year, and to some more I painted during the recent Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

These 10mm figures are being based with the game "1870" in mind.  In the basic version of this game, one base equals one battalion of infantry, two squadrons or cavalry or a battery of guns. This scale allows for some of the very large engagements from the Franco-Prussian War to be played out on a gaming table of a somewhat reasonable size in a somewhat reasonable time. 

There are a few different elements in this post - up first is a regiment of Tirailleurs Algerian, the feared "Turcos", colonial troops from Algeria in French service.  The Turcos were fine soldiers and performed bravely during the war.  The three bases together would comprise the whole regiment.

The Turcos are ready to march in defence of the Second Empire!

Incredible detail and quality on such small figures - Pendraken sculpts are incredible, and really do justice to these iconic troops!

These same sculpts can be used to represent Zouaves...I'll paint some of those up soon.

Up next is some cavalry - French Dragoons.  These two bases together would comprise an entire regiment of Dragoons.

French Dragoon regiment in line.

French Dragoon regiment in column.

Then we move on to artillery - there are three batteries of French "4-pounders".  These were rifled muzzle-loading pieces and two batteries of these guns were attached to each division in the Imperial army.

These 4-lb artillery pieces were the main components of a French divsion's artillery strength.

Then we have that exotic French weapon from 1870, the Mitrailleuse. Generally speaking, each French division in the Imperial army had one battery available.

The mysterious mitrailleuse.

One battery of these exotic weapons per division...

Finally some small stands to represent command - there is a French base and a Prussian one. 

French divisional command base.

Prussian divisional command base.

How dumb is it to paint one setting in multiple scales? Certainly this causes a diffusion of overall progress toward goals...and this is true - when you spread your efforts out, you make a smaller percentage of progress towards a larger number of goals...no doubt this approach helps fill my basement with unpainted stuff, right? But there are many other positive things I find from collecting and painting a period or setting in different scales.  

First, there are some big battles from this setting I would like to game with the guys - but that won't happen in 28mm.  I love and enjoy my 28mm collection, and will continue to add to it, but this will almost always be used to play smaller components of larger battles.  Most of the main engagements in the Franco-Prussian War featured at least one Corps-level formation per side. At a battalion level, a French division alone would have 13 battalions of infantry.  With 24-figure battalions, that's 312 figures just for the one division...a French Corps would have had three divisions, plus a cavalry division, and then the attached artillery...and that doesn't even count the Prussians!

My 10mm Franco-Prussian war collection to date...not very big, but as the gaps on the shelf fill in, we'll get towards a game...still you can already see how the smaller scale can offer a big "sweeping"  view for the period... for rules like "1870" this small collection still represents a total of 21 battalions of infantry, 12 squadrons of cavalry and 10 batteries of artillery...

And even if I could somehow summon the time and skill to paint all of those figures in 28mm (hey, that would be cool, if miraculous), I'm not sure I could find a table or the space to represent, say, the battle of Spicheren or Mars-La-Tour...those would have to be enormous tables, so far beyond my skills to create, or the size of my house to hold!

A Prussian division in 10mm for "1870" - two brigades of infantry (each of two regiments), a regiment of Dragoons (cut off on the left of the photo). The divisional artillery at the back. Command stands are at the front, along with a battalion of Jagers (cut off at the front left of the photo). 

So diving into smaller scales is the answer.  But there is a further benefit...I find it refreshes my interest and motivation (oddly), to paint a period/setting in different scales.  While I'm painting my 28mm figures, I'm saying to myself "oh man, this takes time, it would be so cool to just get a whole regiment painted in a few hours".  So I crack out the 10mm figures, and boom! But then, while painting the 10mm figures, I'm saying to myself "oh man, these uniforms are SO awesome, I would love to see them in 28mm", so when I finished a stretch of 28mm, well, boom! I'm fired up for the larger figures again!

An Imperial French division taking shape...one brigade of infantry is now complete, along with artillery and the attached Chasseurs a Pied battalion (they are at the front, lower left).  Needs five more infantry battalions to complete the second infantry brigade. The cavalry, meanwhile, is the start of its own division...needs some lancers and Hussars to round out...always more, right?

And while I'm blown away by the quality of the 10mm castings from Pendraken, I'm also experimenting with castings in the other small scales - some 6mm from Baccus and 15mm from Old Glory.  Hopefully I'll have more to share here on the Blog at some point.  Again, each scale offers a different set of trade-offs in terms of look vs. table size vs. game scale...and dabbling in each figure scale feels different enough that my interest and overall motivation remains pretty strong...you know, until I decide I need a new Titan or some more Space Marines :)

Thanks for visiting!